Ana Mitila Lora writes in the Listin Diario today that construction of the huge cathedral being erected through taxpayer money on grounds belonging to the Ministry of Armed Forces was resumed two weeks ago. She reports that the temple is in the final phases of construction and comments that the cost of the cathedral has not been made public, leading her to question whether there is so much money available that the country can splurge on works such as this one that no one asked for. “Are not the 116 parishes in Santo Domingo enough? Or is it that the officials and military cannot hear mass where other Catholics do?” She then asks if the military has so much spending money, citing a budget of RD$4.8 billion for 2003, “how can the defrauding of the Dominican soldiers in Iraq be explained?” She says that the relatives of the soldiers allege that the government has not come through with its monthly allowance of US$1,300 to officers and US$800 to soldiers – a stipend that is authorized by Armed Forces regulations to all military members stationed abroad on active service. Lora says that the soldiers are now desperate and have had to borrow money, and that only the National Police’s members in Iraq have received two months of wages. The author can be reached at anamitila@hotmail.com